Our MD88 FO killed in action in Iraq. RIP.
Family IDs pilot killed in F-16 crash
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 16, 2007 17:23:07 EDT
BAGHDAD — An Ohio National Guard pilot was killed when his F-16 fighter crashed shortly after takeoff from Balad Air Base in central Iraq, an Air Force spokesman said.
“They’re investigating the accident, and we won’t know the exact cause until that’s completed. But it doesn’t appear to be hostile fire,” said Col. Thomas Deall, a spokesman in the region for the U.S. Central Command Air Forces.
The pilot’s family identified him as Ohio Air National Guard Maj. Kevin Sonnenberg, 42, from Napoleon.
In an initial statement late Friday, the Air Force said the jet went down at 12:27 a.m. Friday while on a mission to support a ground forces operation. Deall said it crashed about 50 miles north of Baghdad, near the Balad base.
The identity of the pilot — the single crew member — was not immediately released, pending notification of the next of kin.
In Columbus, Ohio, a National Guard spokesman said Sonnenberg was a member of the 180th Fighter Wing based in Toledo. Spokesman Mark Wayda said about 270 of the unit’s 1,000 members were deployed to Iraq last month, operating under the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad.
The loss of an F-16, a workhorse warplane in the Iraq war, is a rare event. One crashed last Nov. 27 in the western province of Anbar, killing the pilot.
Family IDs pilot killed in F-16 crash
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 16, 2007 17:23:07 EDT
BAGHDAD — An Ohio National Guard pilot was killed when his F-16 fighter crashed shortly after takeoff from Balad Air Base in central Iraq, an Air Force spokesman said.
“They’re investigating the accident, and we won’t know the exact cause until that’s completed. But it doesn’t appear to be hostile fire,” said Col. Thomas Deall, a spokesman in the region for the U.S. Central Command Air Forces.
The pilot’s family identified him as Ohio Air National Guard Maj. Kevin Sonnenberg, 42, from Napoleon.
In an initial statement late Friday, the Air Force said the jet went down at 12:27 a.m. Friday while on a mission to support a ground forces operation. Deall said it crashed about 50 miles north of Baghdad, near the Balad base.
The identity of the pilot — the single crew member — was not immediately released, pending notification of the next of kin.
In Columbus, Ohio, a National Guard spokesman said Sonnenberg was a member of the 180th Fighter Wing based in Toledo. Spokesman Mark Wayda said about 270 of the unit’s 1,000 members were deployed to Iraq last month, operating under the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad.
The loss of an F-16, a workhorse warplane in the Iraq war, is a rare event. One crashed last Nov. 27 in the western province of Anbar, killing the pilot.